The Gavigan Family: Week 2

I can not remember whether the Gavigans came to our game with the Apartment Life or Freetime expansion, but they have found a home in New Maximiliania just like all the other Maxis-made Sims. This is where they live: a cube-shaped house in Maximum Shopping, New Maximiliania's business district.

Isaiah Gavigan is a typical Family Sim: he wants to marry off six children. Right now, he is still a teenager and does not even have a girlfriend yet.

He is not the Gavigan's only child anymore - during their previous week, the twins Gesine (left) and Gerlinde (right) were born.

Mary Gavigan was anxious to have at least one more child after Isaiah, as her lifetime want is to have six grandchildren, and she did not want to put that burden on her son alone - that was before he turned into a teenager and ended up with just the perfect lifetime want for that himself! You guessed it, Mary's aspiration is Family, too.

Nathan Gavigan's goal in life is to own 5 top-level businesses. For lack of money, he opened a home business by installing an axe-throwing game where other families have a drive for their car. On the Monday of this week, the business is only at rank 3.

Bringing up two demanding little girls is no easy task, as Mary feels time and time again, with having to make sure the home business AND the household are running smoothly as well.

Oh, by the way, this is Nathan. He tries to see the positive side of everything and is often the one to cheer up Isaiah when the boy is a bit down in spirits after an exhausting school day... and then no peace at home, without even so much as his own room where to retreat.

Overall, Nathan and Mary are a happy couple, with their only problem being not having enough time to themselves, which is probably the fate of most families with young children.

On Tuesday, Mary gets her Bronze Sales Badge. The business is now rank 4.

Isaiah needs some time alone with his mum, too; only because the twins are there does not mean he is all of a sudden totally grown up, and Mary makes sure to sit down with him for a meal when the little ones are asleep.

On Wednesday, he reaches maximum enthusiasm for Arts & Crafts and is rewarded with a special plaque by this lady.

Nathan has just received his Golden Sales Badge.

Later the same day, first Gerlinde...

...turns into a child...

...and then...

...Gesine. (Note: I have changed Gerlinde's hairstyle, as it was the same as almost every girl seems to get at the time of their age transition; it was too boring).

Now things need re-arranging at the Gavigans' house. The girls get the nursery to themselves, and it is now all done in bright colours with a lot of pink.

Isaiah does get away from his little sisters - but still does not have his own room, the house simply is not big enough. Instead, he now has a corner of the living / dining room, which means he has that area to himself when his parents and the twins are in bed. He is going to move to college at some stage anyway, so there is no need to invest hard-earned money into an extension to the house. The business has reached rank 5 today.

Gerlinde discovers that skunks do NOT like to be petted!

Now that all three of their children are at school for a good part of the day, Mary finally has the chance to breathe and get some time and space to herself. She can not remember when she last sat down in a peaceful, quiet living room to do the crosswords.

After their first day at school, both Gesine...

...and Gerlinde learn to study from their parents.

They make sure that the family share at least one meal every day.

I quite liked this line-up of the kids for the school bus :-)

Peace and quiet, when all three of them are gone and the bus has left... peace and quiet?! Only until Mary tries to repair the telly and gets electrocuted!! Thankfully, she manages to finish the repair and then hops into the shower immediately.

Nathan has not had time to go for a run in ages, and while the kids are still at school, he makes use of the fine spring weather. He can trust Mary to look after their customers in the mean time.

On Friday, Gerlinde proudly presents her first A+ report. Gesine is a bit behind at "only" a B+ at the moment, but I am positive that she'll catch up with her twin sister in no time. The business has now reached rank 6.

Saturday morning, Mary learns everything she'll ever need to know about Fire Safety.

In the evening, suddenly many customers start complaining to Nathan about the "filthiness" of the place. Nathan is puzzled by the complaints - there is no garbage around, no old newspapers, no homework sheets of his children, no unpaid bills or heaps of dirt and holes dugs by stray dogs. He has no idea what his customers are on about, until...

...he walks to the back of the garden and discovers an assortment of several jars with dead butterflies in them. How sad! Some of his earlier customers must have caught them and then forgot about them. Nathan cleans up all the jars, and the complaints stop.

Isaiah may not always be so keen on the presence of his exhausting, lively pair of little sisters, but he loves them dearly nonetheless - at night, he goes to their nursery on his own accord and tucks them in.

The next day, Sunday, he makes his Bronze Sales Badge. Mary has received hers in Silver today, and the business is now at rank 7. The Gavigan's bank account shows an impressive 92.595 Simoleons - that's mostly due to the business perks earned, but of course also due to the steady flow of customers who pay 13 Simoleons each for having a go at the axe throwing game. (By the way, it obviously has not occured to the Gavigans that an axe throwing game may not be the safest way to earn money, with three children around...)

The girls have been studying diligently - they were fed smart milk as toddlers and have an impressive learning speed, something I took advantage of. But sometimes they just want to be kids, and when I let them, they play together with the toys from their toybox. Typically for little girls, they have chosen the horse.

Let's end this busy week with a picture of the family at their Sunday dinner table, enjoying the hamburgers Mary made. 
When is Isaiah going to college? Will he meet someone there who shares his lifetime want? What sort of business will Nathan open next? Is Mary going to keep supporting her business-minded husband?